Wednesday, March 30,
2016, 6:46 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Voice of Truth.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 21:15-17 (ESV)
When
they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do
you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love
you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon,
son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love
you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon,
son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the
third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything;
you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
Ruin
Simon Peter was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He was
impulsive and passionate, and he often spoke or acted out of his emotions
before he really thought them through. He is the one who rebuked Jesus when the
Lord told his followers that he must suffer many things at the hands of the
religious leaders, that he would be killed, but that he would be raised to life
on the third day. Peter said, "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to
you!" So, Jesus rebuked him: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely
human concerns" (See: Matt. 16:21-23).
This is the same Peter, nonetheless, about whom Jesus had
just said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18). This was
because Jesus saw beyond Peter’s failure to his time of restoration. Amen!
When Jesus was nearing the time of his death, he informed
his disciples that they would all fall away on account of him. Peter responded
by saying, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”
Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster
crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die
with you, I will not deny you!” All the disciples repeated the same thing (See:
Matt. 26:31-35).
Peter felt he would never deny his Lord, so he didn’t take the
warning seriously. How many times do we do the same? 1 Co. 10:12 says: “Therefore
let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” We need to listen
to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to Gethsemane
to pray, because he knew he was soon to go to the cross, he asked them to keep
watch with him, but they fell asleep. Jesus said to Peter, “So, could you not
watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (See: Matt. 26:36-41). Indeed,
his flesh was weak, and when put to the test, he did fall into temptation. Peter
did deny his Lord, just as Jesus said he would. He thought he knew himself
better than Jesus knew him, but he was self-deceived. He let his own pride
dictate for him what he would believe, and how he would act, and so he did fall
as Jesus had said.
How about us? Are any of us where Peter was? Are we self-deceived
into thinking we know ourselves better than God? Is pride ruling our lives, or
is the Lord the one on the throne of our lives? Do we speak or act before we
think? Or do we pray first, then act? Are we making decisions for our lives
based on human reasoning, or on the leading of the Holy Spirit? And, are we
daily putting on our spiritual armor with which to fight off Satan’s
temptations, or are we spiritually lazy and thus we regularly set ourselves up
to fall into sin?
Repentance
After Peter’s third denial the rooster crowed. Then Peter “remembered
the saying of Jesus, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’
And he went out and wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75).
Being a follower of Jesus Christ does not mean we are
suddenly perfect or that we will never sin again (See: 1 Jn. 2:1). Yet, it does
mean that we have been delivered out of bondage to sin, and that sin should no
longer be our master, but we should now be servants of righteousness. It also
means that we should not use “I’m not perfect” as an excuse for continued
willful sin against God. We read in 1 Jn. 1:6 that if we say we have fellowship
with God, but we walk (conduct our lives) in darkness (sin, wickedness), that
we are liars and the truth is not in us. We read in Ro. 8 that if we walk in
the flesh we will die, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds
of the flesh, we will live (See: Ro. 8:1-14).
A saved life is not one of sinless perfection, in other
words, but it is a life transformed of the Holy Spirit of God from death to
life, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God (See: Ac.
26:16-18). Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1
Pet. 2:24). When we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, we are
crucified with Christ of the Spirit in death to sin, and we are resurrected
with Christ in newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6:1-23). God’s grace, which brings
salvation, is not a free license to continue in willful sin against Almighty
God. His grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and
to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s
return (Tit. 2:11-14). We are called to be holy, set apart from (different,
unlike) this sinful world, because we are being conformed into the image of
Christ.
Yet, when we do sin, Jesus is our advocate to the Father. We
can go to him in prayer, confessing and repenting of our sins, and he will
restore us and renew us in him. Amen! God’s grace is awesome! We serve a loving
and a forgiving God! Amen! Satan, nonetheless, revels in our failures, and he
will do all he can to try to convince us that we are hopeless, ruined beyond
repair, and that God could never use us again. We have to not listen to his
lies, but we need to put on the belt of truth with which to fight off his evil
schemes against us. Satan wants to convince us that we will never win, but
Jesus already won this battle for us through his death on the cross. Amen! God
has given us the victory over sin and Satan if we are truly his by faith in
Jesus Christ. We just need to believe God, and act on that faith.
Restoration
I am all the time thanking God/Jesus for his amazing grace
to me, not only in saving me from my sins, but in how he has so many times
lifted me up when I have fallen, and he has put me right back on the path which
he wants me to travel. I am blessed beyond measure because he has restored and
renewed me in my walk of faith and obedience to him, and he continues to use me
for his glory. I don’t deserve his love and mercy, yet he has been very
gracious to me because of his great love for me.
I love this story of Peter’s restoration. Yes, he denied his
Lord three times, yet when faced with the reality of what he did, he repented
of his sin, and God reinstated him. So many times Satan convinces us that we
are all washed up, but that is not how God sees us if we are truly repentant.
He will take what Satan meant for evil in our lives, and he will turn it around
and will use it for good in our lives and in the lives of others if we will but
trust him with our lives, go where he sends us, and do what he asks us to do. “A
broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). So, repent
today, and serve God forever!
VOICE OF TRUTH / Mark
Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman
II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians
1:20-24
…But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
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